Masquerade Ball: Difference between revisions

in an inhuman race!|''[[The Phantom of the Opera]]'', "Masquerade"}}

Want to show off just how rich, elite, and extravagant your [[Blue Blood|upper class]] is? Have them celebrate everything with a [['''Masquerade Ball]]'''. With bizarre masks and elaborate [[Gorgeous Period Dress]], everyone's identity is sufficiently obscured for any number of misunderstandings. Either Horror or [[Hilarity Ensues]].

The refinery on top of the sheer trope goldmine that is the [['''Masquerade Ball]]''' is the convention of using aliases to go with the masks. Historically, that can free participants to indulge in era-appropriate 'scandalous' behaviors -- andbehaviors—and also make a good opportunity for the uninvited to crash. Watch out for the mass robbery by the [[Phantom Thief]] and [[Classy Cat Burglar]], and hope there's a [[The Golden Age of Comic Books|Golden Age]] [[Superhero]] around somewhere. [[Charity Ball]] often combines with the theft, to give the thiefs a good way to infiltrate.

A modern costume party has some of the potential for this, especially if there are disguises abounding. If it's an ''actual'' [['''Masquerade Ball]]''' in a modern setting, expect at least one guest to bring out the ''[[Romeo and Juliet]]'' quotes.

Even those who vainly deny that [[Everyone Is Jesus in Purgatory]] may grudgingly admit the social metaphor inherent in the [['''Masquerade Ball]]'''.

*** There are mirrors in abundance. Jareth removes his mask while the guests retain theirs, and yet he is often in close proximity to mirrors, including two which are held up to him on either side by masked women when Sarah first spots him.

* ''[[The Man in the Iron Mask (1998 film)|The Man in the Iron Mask]]'' uses this to switch out the corrupt (literal) [[Evil Twin]] king for the good one, with the added bonus that the hidden twin had spent his entire life wearing a heavy iron mask, which he flashed to the king from under the decorative gold one to freak him out.

** In ''[[Ever After (film)|Ever After]]'', it is a masked ball, but the Prince doesn't use the shoe to find her anyway.

* In ''[[Zorro]]: The Gay Blade'', the governor holds a [[Masquerade Ball]]. Zorro shows up ([[For Halloween I Am Going as Myself|in costume]]) and is unmasked as Don Diego, but then ''all'' the other male guests show up, also dressed as Zorro.

* ''[[Batman Returns]]'' has a costume Christmas party, where everyone wears a costume except, of course, Batman and Catwoman -- forCatwoman—for whom their civilian identities ''are'' their costumes.

* The film ''[[Start the Revolution Without Me]]'' (a humorous account of the French Revolution, and yes, ) has a hilarious send-up of this type of party. Even though it's technically not a [[Masquerade Ball]], everyone still wears elaborate court dress--exceptdress—except for King Louis the XVI, who arrives in an elaborate chicken costume. (Apparently his devious wife told him it was [[It's a Costume Party, I Swear|supposed to be a costume ball]] and then "changed her mind" without telling him.) There's also plenty of intrigue, spying and backstabbing going on as the ball patrons exchange secret notes with each other--soother—so many notes in fact, that the ''entire floor'' gets covered with them.

* Referenced by [[The Grim Reaper]] in ''[[Discworld]]'', explaining why he appeared at a summoning ritual with a cocktail and a sausage-onna-stick.{{smallcapssmall-caps| "The party's nice, but I expect it'll all go downhill after midnight. It's when [[For Halloween I Am Going as Myself|they think I'll be taking my mask off.]]"}}

** ''Witches Abroad'' also includes Death apparently wearing a carnival mask, and in ''Maskerade'' he actually does (along with the full ''Red Death'' ensemble), with the shock coming when he ''does'' take it off. Pratchett uses the same gag in the short story ''Turntables of the Night'' set at the modern-day, ultra-mundane version of the [[Masquerade Ball]]; a small town Hallowe'en disco.

** The [[Discworld]] novel ''[[Discworld/Maskerade|Maskerade]]'' is an [[Affectionate Parody]] of ''[[The Phantom of the Opera]]'', complete with [[Never Mess with Granny|Granny Weatherwax]] and [[Magnificent Bastard|Nanny Ogg]], rural Lancre witches who have no concept of how to behave in high society, dressing up this way and attending an opera performance. This goes about as well as could be expected given the witches concerned.

STRANGER: [[Not a Mask|I wear no mask.]] <br />

* In the [[Discworld]] novel ''Witches Abroad'', the story of <s>Cinderella</s> Emberella is done at a masquerade ball. The Witches use this to switch the poor scullery girl with one of their own.

** Francois Auber also wrote an [[Opera]] about the same incident, called ''Gustav le troisieme, ou le bal masque''

* In the retro-[[Steampunk]] ''[[BioshockBioShock (series)]]'', many of the splicers are wearing party masks, as there was a 'ball' at about the time they went mad.

* Lord Fain of ''[[Lusternia]]'' has an aesthetic that mixes [[Masquerade Ball]] and [[Chess Motifs]]. Appropriately, his appearance is an extended [[Shout-Out]] to [[Edgar Allan Poe|Poe's]] ''Masque of the Red Death'', right down to his title ("The Crimson Masque") and his {{spoiler|[[Not a Mask|actual lack of a mask]]}}.

* An episode of the first ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1987|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' cartoon revolves around a high-class masquerade ball April attends (and looks [[She Cleans Up Nicely|shockingly stunning]] in her evening gown). She brings the Turtles with her, thinking it'd be fun and ironic. Over the course of the episode she is [[Mistaken Identity|mistaken]] for a similarly-dressed European princess and kidnapped, and when security orders everyone to take off their masks, the Turtles are in an obvious bind.

* The episode "Heart of Tarkon" of ''[[Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers|Galaxy Rangers]]'' has Doc crashing one of these and using the opportunity to turn on the charm with Maya. Maya is not fooled by his identity in the slightest, [[Give Geeks a Chance|but is surprised at how charming he can be]].